###Live Caption:Chris Cagigal in a rehearsal of his show, "The Pandora Experiment" at Exit Theatre in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 13, 2008. Cagigal uses multiple props, mainly from family, notably a 100 year old doll from his estranged grand uncle Tio Julio.
Photo by Liz Hafalia / San Francisco Chronicle###Caption History:Chris Cagigal in a rehearsal of his show, "The Pandora Experiment" at Exit Theatre in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 13, 2008. Cagigal uses multiple props, mainly from family, notably a 100 year old doll from his estranged grand uncle Tio Julio.
Photo by Liz Hafalia / San Francisco Chronicle###Notes:Chris Cagigal in a rehearsal of his show, "The Pandora Experiment" at Exit Theatre in San Francisco, Calif., on Thursday, March 13, 2008. Cagigal uses multiple props, mainly from family, notably a 100 year old doll from his estranged grand uncle Tio Ju###Special Instructions:�2008, San Francisco Chronicle/ Liz Hafalia
MANDATORY CREDIT FOR PHOTOG AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE. NO SALES- MAGS OUT.

Chris Cagigal has been interested in magic since he was 10 or 11 years old - old enough to know that he could get positive attention even while remaining a self-described nerd. He scoured bookstores and libraries for magic books, and stayed up late at night teaching himself sleight-of-hand maneuvers. But it's been hard finding a place in the field.

"The main venues for magicians are parties, corporate events, Vegas and cruise ships," Cagigal says. "I have friends who do them, and do them really well, and I respect them and they're really excellent at those things, but (those venues) are not for me."

Now, Cagigal feels he has hit his stride as the originator of the innovative magic show "The Pandora Experiment," now in its third run in a bigger space. His work lies somewhere between traditional magic practices and the psychologically driven mentalists, whose effect is very close to mind reading.

"I got into art and theater in college, and took some time away from performing to not be a performer, but I always knew I'd come back to it." Eventually, he says, "it became about something else for me. It wasn't about leveling out social anxieties. It became about the unknown and being OK with the unknown."

"The Pandora Experiment" is broken into two 45-minute acts. Cagigal is loath to say much about it - a magician, after all, never reveals his secrets - but he does offer a tease.

"There's a box that knows your secret wish, a toy car that knows what you're thinking, and a toy doll that communicates with the audience using quotes from Shakespeare."

Cagigal inherited the doll in question from a grand uncle, a Spaniard who had fought as a rebel in the Spanish Civil War. He says weaving personal history into "The Pandora Experiment" is important to him. "I've always loved storytelling. It harkens back to good old days, shaman, not to say I'm on the level of shaman, but also sitting around the campfire."

In the end, however, Cagigal says that what sets him apart from some of the showier contemporary magicians (think Criss Angel and David Blaine) is his emphasis on audience participation and connection.

"It's like, can I bring people in to a fantasy world for a while," he says. "The more we hurtle forward today, the more we desperately need that - to be in a magical world."